Clos des Fées

Between the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Pyrenees, in Roussillon, a few miles north of Perpignan, lies the Vingrau cirque. At the foot of its limestone cliffs, in the Agly Valley, Hervé Bizeul discovered forgotten old vines. From this encounter in 1997, the Domaine du Clos des Fées was born. Starting from nothing, the winemaker has succeeded in creating exceptional wines with poetic names, which are now exported all over the world.

Domaine du Clos des Fées: exceptional wines born from the ambition of their winemaker

Hervé Bizeul was a restaurateur, writer, and journalist. When he discovered the Agly Valley, he was struck by his passion for wine. At the age of 21, he received the Ruinard Trophy for Best Young Sommelier in France. He moved to Vingrau with his wife in 1997 to reinvent himself as a winemaker. He had no money, but he had big ambitions, even though the Roussillon vineyards were not yet highly regarded at the time. To produce his first vintage in 1998, a winemaker friend lent him his cellar. It was there that the young winemaker created Le Clos des Fées, using grapes harvested from his few hectares of land and bunches picked from abandoned vines. The success was immediate: these were the first steps in a meteoric rise. Thanks to his hard work, courage, and patience, Domaine du Clos des Fées gradually expanded and upgraded its facilities, becoming one of the most prestigious estates in Roussillon within a few years. From the very beginning of his winemaking adventure, Hervé Bizeul aimed for excellence: he treated his vines like grand crus in order to produce the best possible wine. In particular, he took care to preserve the biodiversity of his land and worked his vines using sustainable methods, avoiding the use of any chemicals. The grapes are harvested exclusively by hand and always picked at peak ripeness. The winemaking process is rigorous and often daring. This is what enables the estate to offer a meticulously crafted range of wines with great aromatic richness.

Quality wines that reveal the diversity of the Roussillon vineyards

Today, the Domaine du Clos des Fées covers thirty hectares, divided into 112 plots. It encompasses seven terroirs (Vingrau, Tautavel, Maury, Calce, Lesquerde, Opoul, Espira de l'Agly) on which grape varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Carignan are planted. The vines thus benefit from a wide variety of soils and exposures. This diversity, unique to the Roussillon vineyards, allows the development of unique red and white wines that reveal the specific characteristics of the terroirs where they are born. Domaine du Clos des Fées boasts an exceptional wine-growing heritage that its owner is committed to promoting, even if it requires a long-term effort. From old vines, many of which are over a hundred years old, he creates remarkable wines: Le Clos des Fées, Les Sorcières, Les Vieilles Vignes, De battre mon cœur s'est arrêté, Un faune avec son fifre... The most extraordinary of these is called La Petite Sibérie. This rare wine comes from a single plot, very rich in iron, composed of old Grenache vines on which an icy wind blows 200 days a year. Hervé Bizeul thus takes advantage of the richness of the terroir to create unusual and surprising wines. Grouped under the protected designations of origin "Côtes du Roussillon" and "Côtes du Roussillon Villages" or, for some, under the IGP (protected geographical indication) labels "Pyrénées orientales" and "Côtes catalanes," the wines of Domaine du Clos des Fées definitely give pride of place to their region.